


Growth

by lesbianbey



Series: Forgiveness [2]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Cyberbullying, Depression, Everyone is LGBT, F/F, I mean EVERYONE - Freeform, Max is friends with a lot of people, Minor Character Death, No Rewind Powers, No Storm in Arcadia Bay, Other Tags As Assigned, Rachel isn’t a manipulative bastard, Redemption, Religion, Suicide Attempt, also some lis2 references because i’m a weak individual, guilt tripping, practically everyone - Freeform, thank god I renewed it, this is so much better than the old version of this fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-29
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-08-09 08:05:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16446011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbianbey/pseuds/lesbianbey
Summary: Max Caulfield gets the opportunity of her life to attend Blackwell Academy. However her life is turned upside down when she’s reunited with her former friend.





	1. Welcome to Blackwell

**Author's Note:**

> A revamp of the previous fic. now it's completely maxcentric and I worked on some issues I had with it in the past. hope you’ll enjoy this version.

“Thanks dad!”

A redhead with a full beard and lumberjack clothes grins at his only daughter after placing what seems to be her last box full of stuff. “No problem, Max. Make sure you text us every week to tell us how great Blackwell is.”

Max chuckles. “You’ve already seen how great it is.”

“Maybe, but that was an excuse to send us pictures. Make us see what you see behind the camera.”

“I don’t think it works like that on my camera,” Max says, waving a Polaroid camera around. “But maybe I’ll keep you posted using my busted up phone.”

Her father ruffles her hair and kisses her forehead. Max playfully groans and pushes her dad’s arm off. “Alright fine. I’ll stop embarrassing you.”

As soon as her dad leaves, Max inhales deeply and lets it out. “Welcome to Blackwell, Max.” Her room is filled to the brim with boxes containing clothes, electronics, her guitar, and her pictures. She has the entire day to do so, because tomorrow she meets her fellow dorm mates in the orientation and it’s an all day affair. If only she asked her dad to help her out instead of sending him off…

With a heart full of determination, Max opens her first box of clothes and gets to work. She received a full ride scholarship after sending an essay and a photo sample of her work. Ever since she heard of her favorite photographer Mark Jefferson teaching photography classes at Blackwell, she begged her parents to let her go. Of course, they couldn’t say no to their only child and Max sent in everything she can to get that scholarship. She was accepted and spent that time celebrating her win by drinking at the Fremont Troll with her best friends Fernando and Kristen. Every time she looks at that photo, she laughs because after being grounded for a week and having a terrible hangover that her dad exacerbated by making as much noise as possible, she doesn’t regret any minute of it. She was due for a night of rebellion anyway.

It takes a while for Max to fix her room the way she wants to, leaving her pictures for last because it isn’t much of a hassle as it is when she folds clothes or hooks up her laptop computer at the desk. She sighs out and looks at her room, missing decorations but is decent enough to take a small break. She removes her guitar from its case and plays a tune. She starts playing a recognizable song through her guitar, and is almost lost in it that she doesn’t hear knocking on her door. She puts her guitar down and opens the door, getting welcomed with a grin from a brunette. “Was that Crosses by Jose Gonzalez?”

“Uh, yeah, albeit not a very good version—“

“Are you kidding? That was the best cover I’ve heard yet,” the brunette compliments.

“Thanks, uh…”

“Dana Ward,” she says, and gives Max another smile. “I’m not exactly new but I know you are.”

“Seattle, although I did live here when I was a kid,” Max replies.

“Oh, i’m from Portland but I’ve attended this school since I was a freshman. The school just recently put the senior program but it’s always been an art/science school.” Dana walks around the room a little, then picks up the Polaroid left on the bed. “I’m guessing you’re here for photography?”

“Did the Polaroid give it away?”

“Definitely. Vintage, yet unique. Everyone here uses DSLR cameras so it’s good to seem some type of originality.”

“Thank you,” Max replies. She really didn’t expect a warm welcome so soon but Blackwell continues to surprise her, whether good or bad. “I’m Max by the way.”

“Welcome to Blackwell, Max.”

* * *

 

The next day, Max goes straight towards the main building to the orientation. Her first night was passable thanks to the loud chit chat by her dorm room. When she went outside to inspect who was talking, she saw two students, a guy and a girl, both blond, walk out of a dorm room looking higher than a kite. They don’t seem to notice her, but the short haired gorgeous blond does.

“What are you looking at, fresh meat?” She sneers.

“Could you keep it down a little? I’m trying to get some—“ Max stops herself, and stares again. “Victoria Chase?”

“Who the fuck are you?”

Max vaguely remembers Victoria from when she went to middle school but she was a lot nicer back then than she is now. They had to do a project for a class and aside from idle work related chatting, they never talked and that was that. Victoria announced that she was going to Blackwell for school and Max never saw her again, or even thought about her. “Uh, forget it. I just…”

“Ugh.” Victoria doesn’t let her finish the sentence when she slams her door shut. Max hopes that is her final sign for things to stay quiet now that it’s almost curfew.

But she’s wrong.

Seems like some more people decide to play music. A distant violin is heard early in the morning and some more music drowns it out, much to Max’s annoyance. Her neighbors in Seattle weren’t even terrible and they had a neighbor with a teenager who threw parties every weekend.

She silently gets ready for her orientation and meets with a couple people she sadly didn’t recognize. She saw Dana hanging out with another brunette with cowgirl boots, and it seems like Victoria has resorted to glaring at Max with a blond haired girl she vaguely saw yesterday night.

She meets up with her group, containing a blond girl with a bun on her head, a girl with multicolored hair, another girl with a hoodie and is idly pacing around, and a short haired brunette she saw yesterday. There was also another pretentious looking guy that might put her to shame.

“Welcome to Blackwell!” A short haired girl announces, with a smile and a Blackwell athletic shirt on with denim cutoff shorts that may not be part of the dress code but Max doubts she cares much.“My name is Rachel Amber and I’ll be directing you towards this orientation. Any questions about Blackwell will be answered to my best ability. Just don’t ask me about the Blackwell totem pole and we’ll get along swell. Now, would you just follow me…”

Max follows Rachel around the school, snapping pictures every now and then. She starts to notice the new pieces of artwork around the school, noticing it’s Mark Jefferson’s work through and through. Max thought it was a bit extra to introduces a world renowned photographer as a teacher, but she doesn’t say. Rachel is a decent tour guide, albeit a little fast but Max isn’t complaining either because she would much rather hide in her room than to entertain the idea of some reception after the tour, where she knows she has to meet people.

However as soon as the tour ends, students are kind of expected to since they will be her classmates for the rest of the year. Max groans to herself and stays in, sitting by a table and wishing the doors would open so she can go back to her room and take a much needed nap unless Victoria has other plans concerning her Lana Del Rey playlist. She mentally rolls her eyes; how anyone listens to that crap is beyond her. 

“Not one for socialization huh?” The blond girl with a bun on her head says.

Max shakes her head. “No, not really.”

“At least the tour was informative and the cookies aren’t terrible,” she says. “I noticed you yesterday moving in. I also noticed someone playing guitar and I wanted to go but Dana beat me to the punch. You’re really good, even though I don’t recognize the song.”

“Yeah, it’s an indie song...my mom calls it an acquired taste.”

The girl giggles. “I’m more of a classical girl myself. I play the violin.”

“So that was you playing the violin this morning.”

The girl blanches a little. “Did I wake you?”

“Yeah but I wasn't totally annoyed until I heard music by another neighbor of mine.”

“Oh, good, I thought I would’ve gotten you mad. Several girls like my violin playing but one girl...doesn’t.”

Max frowns. She could tell that Victoria’s the girl and she might be giving this girl trouble for it. If that’s the case, Max will make sure nothing bad happened to this girl. She didn’t have a lot of people backing her up aside from Chloe when they were kids, so she wants to be the one protecting another person from potential bullies. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok. I’m Kate, by the way.”

“Max. Welcome to Blackwell.”

Kate chuckles. “Same to you.”

* * *

 

 

After holding the kids hostage, Principal Wells lets the kids go. Max goes right outside with Kate following right after. Max takes a couple pictures, including a couple kissing by the fountain. It wasn’t her main focus, but Max was still drawn by the electric blue hair who picks up the blond girl and scurries downstairs to a ratty truck nearby. 

There’s an older woman stapling missing posters around the school, and Dana stapling a couple posters about some social club with the same brunette she saw her with earlier. “There’s so much life here,” Kate says. “I don’t think I can keep up.”

“Me neither—“ 

“Max, watch out!” Kate warns, but Max is too late when she bumps into another student. 

Max is already opening her mouth to apologize, but the other person stops her. “Watch where you’re going, hipster trash!”

Max groans a little. Of course, out of all people, she bumped into Victoria. Yesterday, Victoria didn’t even allow her to finish her sentence and now she has to face the girl once again. “I’m sorry, Victoria. I’m just...I—“

“For fuck’s sake,” Victoria mutters. “Finish your thoughts before you reply, dumbass.”

“You don’t have to be mean to her you know,” Kate defends.

Victoria directs her glare to Kate. “Nice to see you again, Kate Marsh. Converting Arcadia Bay’s hipster population to extreme abstinence?”

Kate instinctively backs up. Max spits in between her and Victoria and gives her a look. “We don’t want any trouble, Victoria. Seriously.”

“How the fuck do you even...oh shit. Maxine Caulfield, is that you?” Victoria asks, then laughs while looking at Max up and down. “My god. You’re even dorkier now than you were as a kid, especially with that fossil around your neck.”

Max hangs her head. “Glad to see you recovered your memory.”

“What was that, Lamefield?” Victoria asks.

“Victoria!” The blond girl Victoria was hanging out with earlier shouts from across campus. “Come on, we can't be late.”

Victoria sighs. “Au revoir, losers.” Then as quickly as she appears, she walks away. 

Max breathes a sigh of relief and heads to an empty picnic table. Kate follows right after. “She’s so mean. The first day I met her she noticed my necklace and started making jokes about my religion and abstinence.”

“That’s not nice,” Max laments. She wasn’t a huge fan of religion either but she wouldn’t give people shit for that. “When I met her before yesterday, she wasn’t even terrible. She was quite nice actually. Longer hair too.”

Kate gives Max a confused look. “I don’t believe you.”

Max chuckles. “Don’t worry about it.” She take another look around the campus. “I don’t think Rachel Amber did much justice during our tour earlier.”

“She was rushing us so that she can go meet up with her...uh…” Kate scratches the back of her neck and fiddles. “Her girlfriend.”

“No way,” Max scoffs. “Rachel’s dating a girl?”

“Yeah, some blue haired girl who literally carried her off campus and drove away. I thought it was weird though.”

Max raises an eyebrow. She watches Kate’s mannerisms talking about Rachel Amber and her mysterious bluenette girlfriend, and wonders if Kate’s been too sheltered inside her home to meet a person who isn’t straight...or maybe she isn't as open minded as Max thought. “Uh, Kate? You ok? You don’t have a problem with that, do you?”

“No, of course not,” Kate replies. “I just...I...I don’t….”

“You’ve never met a lesbian before,” Max hypothesizes.

“Yeah...that,” Kate confirms, and hangs her head in shame. “This is my first non-religious school. They never talk about that in Christian school...well, in a positive light anyway. It’s all about sinning and sodomizing...and my fellow classmates either never made it public about their sexuality or they were all straight.”

“As long as you don’t have a problem with it…”

Kate shakes her head. “I can’t imagine hating someone because they lie in bed with someone of the same sex...or hating them because they don’t feel like their assigned sex at birth aligns with their gender. I can’t. God always believes in loving everyone, whether they’re sinners or not, and I see everyone as God’s children.”

Max raises both her eyebrows. “You know what Kate? I like your philosophy.”

“Too bad no one else in my family is that open minded. My little sisters...they’re impressionable and time will tell, but everyone else just hates them. I just believe in love and happiness.”

“That’s pretty good to think about.”

Kate grins a little. “If you don’t mind me asking, do you like tea? Everyone else I’ve met so far isn’t a huge fan. Dana’s the only other nice person I’ve met but she likes coffee.”

“Are you kidding? I love tea,” Max exclaims. “My mom specifically gave me English Breakfast tea for my fifteenth birthday, imported from England.”

Kate laughs. “Oh good, because I brought a bunch of assorted teas, including the butterfly pea flower tea and sometimes on Sundays I like to drink tea with some honey to restart the week. Would you like to join me? At least it won’t be just me and my bunny Alice.”

“You had me at assorted teas. And I’ve never had butterfly pea flower tea so that would be interesting.”

“It’s very interesting. When you put a little lemon juice in it, the tea turns from blue to purple. It’s really cool…and it has a pleasant taste either way.”

“Maybe I’ll bring in my honey sticks,” Max says back.

“I’ll hold you accountable,” Kate jokes. She enters her room while Max goes straight to hers. This is going way better than middle school, where she didn’t even make a single friend until her third day of school.


	2. Reunions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates will be slow, which isn’t a surprise from me but it's NaNoWriMo time and i’m not doing a fanfic this year (cue gasp here) so of course I’ll be working on that. I’m still working on fanfic but it's been slowed. I have around twelve chapters of this going right now, and most of it is copy-paste of the original work (cue shrug emoji here) but it’s still coming along.

Already the first day of school, Max says to herself when she wakes up. She’s awoke by her alarm clock but when she turns it off, she hears Kate’s violin playing some soothing song she couldn’t recognize. Max smiles to herself and gathers some shower stuff in her caddy and rushes to the bathroom. She opens the door and is welcomed with jasmine and a refreshed Rachel Amber in her wake. Rachel turns her head and smiles at Max. “Don’t worry, the first week away from home is always the most anxious,” she says.

Max is a little startled, which makes Rachel laugh. It's a natural laugh that Max could get used to. “Uh..um...yeah, I never been in a dorm setting before. It’s kinda weird.” Max mentally slaps herself for stuttering. She can hear Victoria already. ‘Finish your thoughts before you reply, dumbass.’

“It totally is,” Rachel agrees. “I didn’t quite catch your name when i was touring you. I’m Rachel, of course.”

“Max.”

“Welcome to Blackhell, Max,” Rachel smirks. New one, Max says to herself. “Don’t use the sinks when someone’s in the shower and don’t take long showers. We’re trying to ‘conserve energy’. Oh, and if you develop athlete's foot, you can easily obtain an ointment from any girl that has been here longer than a year.”

“Good to know,” Max says, deep in thought.

Rachel winks, and leaves the room. Max removes her clothes and takes a quick shower, just long enough to use the sink when she’s done with her shower. When she spits out her backwash, two students enter the bathroom. One girl has bangs and is wearing glasses, and another has glasses but is darker than the other girl. Max recognizes the second girl from her tour. Max only grimaces at them shortly as the darker skinned girl waves at her. Before she leaves, she hears the first girl ask, “who is she?”

“I don’t know, but she’s new. Might as well be kind.”

Max goes straight to her room and gets dressed for the day. She fixes her hair as much as possible, straightens up her hoodie, and organizes her backpack so she doesn’t have to come back for her books if she’s missing one. She doesn’t understand why Blackwell has lockers, but the school’s been standing before they installed the dorm building in 1999. Whatever it is, she still gets a locker and she doubts she’ll use it.

When she leaves her room, she ignores Victoria glaring at her but does catch the blond girl hanging around her saying something. “What’s your deal with the new girl?” Her voice immediately annoys Max because it reminds her of a fake valley girl that she had the displeasure of knowing back when she was in high school.

“Max! Over here!”

Max is once again startled by Rachel, but goes over to her nonetheless. “Hi, Rachel.”

“Let’s walk to the main building together,” Rachel suggests.

“Uh...sure,” Max replies, with a small grin. Just as they’re about to head out, Max feels a tap on her shoulder. “Kate?”

“Hey,” Kate greets.

“Hi, i’m Rachel,” Rachel introduces with a wide smile.

Kate raises both eyebrows but shakes Rachel’s hand. “Kate.”

Rachel gestures for both girls to walk first. Max walks first while Kate follows suit. Once they head outside to the quads, they head towards to the main campus. “So how are you two gals enjoying Blackhell?”

Max almost snorts. “It’s...something.”

“It’s beautiful out here,” Kate compliments. “I can only imagine how it looks during fall and winter. How long have you been attending Blackwell?”

“Back when it was an actual high school,” Rachel answers. “It’s still a high school, but with a senior program. So like...generally old students like me attend it for about a year extra and then after that we’ll have a head start on college. This is my sixth year because I slacked off for a little while. No complaints though. As much as I despise this town, Blackwell isn’t half bad. What about you two? Why did you come here?”

“I wanted to take the photography course, mostly, so I can broaden my horizons,” Max answers. “Who would be better than that than Mark Jefferson?”

“You’re absolutely right,” Rachel smiles. She turns to Kate. “What about you, darling?”

Kate blushes a little. “Same. I’m more of a cartoonist but I like the occasional photography class. I feel like Jefferson will help me on my way towards being an illustrator.”

“I can’t wait to see your work,” Rachel says. “I wanna become a model one day. That’s my passion. Something about being the center of attention while you’re getting your picture taken or when you’re walking down a runway feels so empowering.”

“You’ll probably make a really great model,” Max comments. “If you want, maybe I can take your headshots.”

“That’s an offer I’m willing to take,” Rachel replies. “Probably not now though. I still gotta get through high school. And maybe Kate can draw me like one of her little French girls.”

Max chuckles. Kate is blushing wildly, maybe because she isn’t used to Rachel’s flirting but Max is somewhat used to it. She’s met people like Rachel.

Rachel talks about her dreams to move to LA to achieve her dream of becoming a model, mostly because Kate asks her. Max notices that Rachel can really carry on a conversation because they’re already inside the campus by the time Rachel finishes her story. Sadly they don’t share much classes but they can pass each other in the hallways and they do share lunch together so that’s a plus.

“I gotta go to class. I’ll see you two later?” Rachel says.

Max nods. Kate waves at Rachel and that was that. “She’s friendly,” Kate says.

“Very friendly,” Max teases. Kate rolls her eyes a little. “Let’s go to class.” Max enters the photography classroom with Kate following after. The classroom has a nice view of Arcadia Bay grounds, as if it couldn’t get any better. Max takes out her polaroid and takes a couple shots through the window.

“And here you have a wild hipster taking amateur shots with her dinosaur camera,” Victoria taunts, with a perfect Australian voice. “Don’t get too close. It might bite.”

Max wanted to laugh too because it really sounded perfect, but she keeps it to herself. The other blond girl laughs, which irritates her. “Oh you really got me there, Victoria,” Max says. “Just wondering...do you ever get tired of being a bitch?”

Max can hear several students gasp. She guesses it isn’t everyday that people cross a person like Victoria. But, just like how Victoria caught her off guard, she wants to do the same. “No, but do you ever get tired of being a shitty hipster wannabe?” Victoria retorts.

“Shitty hipster wannabe?” Max repeats, a little amused. “Well I rather be a shitty hipster wannabe than to be like you.”

“Oh?” Victoria steps closer to Max but the blond girl pulls her away before anything escalates. “No, Taylor. I got this.” Victoria snatches her wrist from Taylor’s grip, folds her arms and steps to Max, so they’re within breathing space. “Let me tell you something real quick, Caulfield. You ever talk to me like that again, I’ll make your time here a living hell...and you don’t want that.”

Max almost shrinks to decimal size upon looking at the fierce glare Victoria is giving her. “I’m not scared.”

“You should be.”

Just in time, Mark Jefferson walks inside the classroom. Max moves away from Victoria and takes her seat, admiring the photographer in all his glory. He seems like a true hipster (not the kind that Victoria keeps calling her) but nonetheless, Mr. Jefferson is a looker. “Everyone take your seats, we’re going to start our lesson.” Max knows for a fact she will not focus too much on the lesson, because Mr. Jefferson is way too good looking as a teacher to pay attention to, but she keeps her attention, hoping to catch some of the lecture. It sucks that she has a lecture on the first day, but Max doesn’t care much. They barely go over the yearly syllabus, opting to use most of the time about what is photography and what it means to capture the right moment.

Five minutes after the bell, Mr. Jefferson stops lecturing. “Every year in San Francisco, the Zeitgeist Gallery hosts an Everyday Heroes contest, where photography students across the country submit their best photo that best represents yourselves or someone in a heroic action. I won’t detail too much on it because submission starts on September 23rd, but I encourage all of my students in this very room to consider submitting a photo. I want to see everyone in this room at least try to push themselves past their limit. Last year a former student of mine joined me on this particular occasion. Maybe one of you will.”

Max isn’t sure if she could ever submit something like that. Maybe she can use Rachel as her model this time for this contest, but does she do extraordinary things? Rachel did do the tour last week, so maybe she’s a little heroic.

Once the bell rings, Max gathers her items as slowly as possible, while the classroom clears out, with only Jefferson and a thirsty looking Victoria. Max rolls her eyes and leaves the classroom to head to science. She doesn’t really enjoy science that much, but it is a requirement and Max doesn’t have a choice but to take science. It's a core subject, of course. Since it's the first day, there aren’t any assigned seats, or rather, this is an extended senior program and the teachers don’t care about the students sitting wherever they want. Max finds an empty table near the door, and pulls out her science notebook. If this class is as tough as Jefferson’s, she should prepare herself to take notes.

As the classroom fills up with students, Max watches as a presumably younger student walk in and since the rest of the tables are occupied by at least one student, he glances at Max’s table and walks there. “Hey, is anyone sitting here?”

“No,” Max says back.

“So I guess you wouldn’t mind if I sat here...or would you?”

“You can sit!” Max giggles. She kinda likes this dude - he reminds her a lot like herself when she was a kid and she first met Chloe. “It is a free country after all.”

“That it is,” he replies. “Anyway, I’ve been in this school long enough to know that you are new, am I right?”

Max does a mixture of nodding and shrugging. “New to Blackwell, not really new to Arcadia Bay. I lived here when I was a kid but I moved to Seattle five years ago. Despite all of that, the Bay seems nostalgic and new all at the same time.”

“I hear ya. The name’s Warren. I think we’re gonna be lab partners for the rest of the year, unless this isn’t Mrs. Grant’s class.” Warren extends a hand towards Max’s direction.

“I’m Max.” She takes Warren’s hand to shake. “I thought I wouldn’t have a science course. I almost flunked it back at my high school.”

“Science is pretty badass, Max,” Warren defends. “I’ll admit I didn’t get it at first when I was a kid, but once I got the hang of it, everything else became easy.”

“That’s me with photography. Once you put a camera in my hand, everything else becomes easy.”

“Maybe I can tutor you in science...that is, if you’re ok with that. I’m not forcing you to, of course.”

Max thinks about the offer for a little while, up until the professor walks in. She couldn’t confirm Warren’s offer because Mrs. Grant is strict on being silent, so that everyone can listen, but for the most part it is a first day so she’s more than lenient. Plus, it gives the students time to know their new lab partner, as she claims.

Once class is finished, Max gets outside and sees Rachel waving her over by the entrance. “Hey, Max! Over here!” Max grins and makes her way towards Rachel. “I was wondering if you wanna go get a late lunch with me. There’s a place not too far from here.”

“Uh, what place do you have in mind?” Please say the Two Whales, Max thinks. She may not be in contact with Chloe, but eating some diner food at the best diner in town sounds way more appetizing than the simply ok food at the Blackwell cafeteria.

“The Two Whales.” Yes, Max says internally. “It’s this sweet diner that my girlfriend works at, and also her mom owns, thanks to her sweet new husband. But those parts aren’t important. I’m hungry and I need a companion, and everyone else doesn’t see the appeal of the place, y’know? They’re not into eating pancakes at 6PM.”

“Pancakes at 6pm sound pretty good...even if it's just 3pm,” Max agrees.

“Exactly! Do you want to wait for Kate? I think she would love this joyous occasion.”

Max pulls out her phone, only to receive a text from Kate telling her that she’s at the student government office to get her club posters notarized. “Uh, she’s busy.”

Rachel frowns a little. “There’s next time I guess.” Rachel takes Max’s wrist, and drags her down the stairs to the bus stop. Not before long, the bus stops right in front of them. “The bus is working properly, so it’s a good sign.”

“The buses at Seattle were worse,” Max mentions, once they load inside the bus. “I had to wait hours for one bus and after that, my dad took me to school...before I got my license.”

“I don’t have my license. One time I tried driving when I was fourteen and I crashed my dad’s car into a fire hydrant. He couldn’t drive it for weeks and I never tried again. You can say I’ve been traumatized since then.”

Max chuckles. “You were only fourteen. You can try again.”

“I can...but I choose not to,” Rachel says back. Once they reach to their designated stop, both of them head to the restaurant a few walking steps away, noticing the huge recreational vehicle right next to it. Max notices how the restaurant hasn’t even changed since she last been there. She hopes it still smells like bacon and pancakes. Maybe the old jukebox is still there. She always picked the classic rock choices whenever she went there with her mom and dad...it was the exact place she met Chloe.

It was kind of a meet-ugly, as Max would like to call it. They both got into a heated argument about what should be playing or not (because Chloe was more into indie rock) when Max’s mother had come to her rescue, along with Chloe’s mother. Both moms got along well, while Chloe and Max got into a terrible glaring fest until the jukebox had stopped playing because a cockroach crawled inside it and messed it up. They eventually made up after Chloe noticed Max’s pirate themed wallet, and it was all smooth sailing from there.

Max missed those days so much. She wants to take it back and relive it, just so she can avoid the big move and William’s untimely death. Sometimes she thinks about the possibility of going back in time and convincing William to take the bus. He wouldn’t have died and her move would’ve been bittersweet, but Max wouldn’t feel as guilty losing contact with Chloe, because she believed one of these days she would reunite with Chloe, and it may be bad but they always managed to make up after a fight. Their meet ugly is a large indication.

Once they enter the restaurant, Max is immediately smacked in the face with memories, bacon and pancakes. She almost wants to cry. “Come on, let’s go to a booth.”

When they get to a booth, a young waiter reaches to their table and sets two menus in front of them. Max can already tell they haven’t changed the look of it, but it surely isn’t as greasy as it was when she was a kid. “I already know what i’m getting. You?”

“Bacon and pancakes,” Max replies.

“We are too similar,” Rachel smirks. “I’m getting that too.”

There’s a shared silence. “So do you know anything about the missing girl?”

“Missing girl?” Rachel asks.

“I saw some person hanging up flyers about a missing girl. I thought you knew about that,” Max clarifies.

“Oh! Oh yeah, Samantha,” Rachel replies. “I barely knew her much. She used to date Nathan Prescott, who’s this rich kid you’ll probably have the displeasure of meeting one day, and that was seemingly her only friend, and when they broke up, she vanished. She was just completing her final year too. It was a hot topic for two months and then the police closed the case, but her parents don’t seem to give up. They think Samantha’s out there, but I doubt it. The girl didn’t seem like the type to run away from home...or Blackhell. A lot of students seem to believe she’s dead somewhere, and very few of us think Nathan had something to do with it. He’s a little off his rocker.”

Max can believe that. The few times she’s seen Nathan around campus between the tour and now, she usually thinks he’s gonna snap and attack someone. “I just thought it was kinda weird.”

“It is,” Rachel comments. “Arcadia Bay’s a small ass town covered by recovered forest. We would’ve found her already, whether dead or alive.”

Max is about to ask about the recovered forest when Rachel’s phone rings. Rachel holds a hand up and picks up her phone. “Hey! What’s up?”

Max sits there awkwardly, hoping Rachel’s conversation will either end shortly or the food gets here. “I’m actually at the Two Whales with a friend. I thought you were here already…ok, then come by...I’m not saving a plate for you...ok, love you, bye.” Rachel hangs up the phone and looks at Max. “Looks like we’re gonna have one more guest.”

“I don’t mind,” Max replies.

“She also works at the tattoo shop a few blocks down but it’s more of apprenticeship—“ Rachel couldn’t finish her sentence because the front door opens and a tall, brooding, blue haired girl waltzes right in. It,s the same striking blue from a few days ago and Max feels so intimidated by her presence, but she shakes it off. The girl turns around and Max has to do a double take. The face...“Chloe?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> edit 11/27: i am deeply sorry if rachel has a 'hella' deficit in this chapter. i'm trying to implement any opportunity for her to say the fandom's most favorite word in existence by going back and, you guessed it, editing.


	3. Guilt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I spent the entire November writing an original novel that i’m still writing and enjoying. I did manage to make 50k before the eighteenth chapter so if I ever publish it (It will happen if I would stop being a pussy) it’ll be pretty long. That’s why I haven’t uploaded a chapter at all since November.
> 
> If I don’t update before Christmas then have a good holiday. I personally don’t care for Christmas (thanks to retail) but I don’t knock people for celebrating it. Also Happy Chanukah. Why don’t we have canonical Jewish characters in LiS? @ dontnod explain

“Max?” Chloe says incredulously. “What the  _ fuck _ ?”

“Wait a minute, you’re Max Caulfield!” Rachel exclaims, and puts a hand over her face. Then she turns to Chloe. “I swear, Chlo. I didn’t know this was the Max you talked about. I’m sorry…”

Chloe turns to Rachel. “So, you spent the entire day with Maxine Caulfield and  _ it never dawned on you? _ ”

Max feels the cold front coming from her former friend. She knew deep down that Chloe would still be mad at her, but Max never knew about the storm brewing in Chloe. She thinks about the way she left, the unread messages and the unreplied messages, and it brings her to tears. “Chloe...i’m sorry for not contacting you for so long. I just...I was still mad…”

“Still mad? My dad died and—“ Chloe stops, and takes a deep breath. “You know what? I’m not gonna talk about this out here.” She turns to Rachel. “You scooting over or what?”

Rachel moves over so Chloe can sit. Max hides her face behind the menu, although she knows what she’s going to get. She should take the time to study a new and improved Chloe Price, but she thinks Chloe might catch an attitude. As she should, Max thinks. She can hear hushed whispers and it makes her heart sink. While Chloe is incredibly pissed, Rachel is reasoning and seemingly siding with Max on this. Suddenly Chloe turns around. “Chloe, Seriously? Don’t be like this.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Rach. This conversation is over. Isn’t that what you said?”

Rachel sighs. “Alright.”

“I’ll be back,” Chloe declares. “If the waiter comes around and i’m not back, I want a Belgian waffle.” 

Once Chloe heads towards the way of the bathroom, Rachel turns to Max with a fiery gaze. “You have some explaining to do.”

“I don’t even know when to start,” Max says.

“Start from the minute you left,” Rachel suggests.

“I had no control over that,” Max says back, with an equally fiery gaze towards Rachel.

Rachel raises an eyebrow. “ _ No _ , but it was  _ your _ decision to shut her out of your life.”

“I didn’t shut her out,” Max defends. “I thought that moving might give me a chance to branch out, and I was still mad at Chloe for fighting me before I left, even if she did apologize. I knew it was genuine, even if it was hours after I moved to a new city, but I couldn't forgive her. Not at that time. Chloe was old enough to know that moving away was more of a decision made by my parents, so she shouldn't have blamed me.”

“When did you know you were moving?” Rachel inquires, with a particular stare that makes Max look down on the table. “Did your parents tell you after Chloe’s dad was deceased, or before that?”

“I...I knew before,” Max admits. “But that was because I didn't know how to tell her. You and I both know that she doesn't really adapt to change very well.”

Rachel relaxes. “I’ll give you that. But you should’ve called her. She’s your best friend. She was hella affected by your lack of contact. You can even ask her mother how  _ hard _ everything has been on her.”

“How messed up was she?”

Rachel sighs. “Let’s just say it was a dark time for her. I only met her three years ago but, she was still  _ really _ messed up.”

“I hoped I would come back and mend things with Chloe in a different setting but...I really want to make things right, Rachel. I don’t want her to be mad at me forever.” She knew that one day she would reunite with Chloe. Whether it was in this restaurant or maybe at school...or somewhere, she would see Chloe again. She had higher hopes though, like Chloe being less bitter and more welcoming. Maybe it will take a while for Chloe to forgive but Max was willing to be on Chloe’s good graces like she once was. “You think she’ll forgive me if I explained?”

“I don’t know. You have to find that out on your own, Max,” Rachel responds. 

Max sees Chloe approaching them as soon as a waitress stops in front of them. After a brief introduction, Chloe makes her order short and sweet while Rachel says pancakes and Max says a bacon omelette. When the waitress disappears, there’s a tensioned silence. Neither Chloe nor Rachel are willing to break it though. Max takes the time to look at Chloe, noticing her face red and eyes puffy. 

She’s been crying.

Max’s heart breaks and she loses her appetite. She didn’t think a small reunion like this would make Chloe break down in a public bathroom. She  _ definitely _ should’ve called Chloe.

Max doesn’t even eat her food when it arrives. Neither does Chloe or Rachel.

“Since neither of us are going to eat, I might as well go,” Chloe declares flippantly. “You need a ride back to Blackwell?”

Max wonders if Chloe is talking to her, but when she stares, Chloe is looking towards Rachel. “Yeah. Max too.”

Chloe glares at Max once and rolls her eyes. “Fine.” She hails down the waiter and requests several to go plates while offering to pay for everything. Max feels even more pangs of guilt.

* * *

 

It’s silent on the way back to Blackwell. Max couldn’t stop thinking about how terrible she feels for ghosting Chloe for this long. It makes her feel terrible that Max may have caused Chloe to have some type of emotional breakdown in the bathroom and that she may have caused Chloe to be more bitter throughout the years.

Rachel was also on edge but Max isn’t sure why. Rachel my not appear mad at Max but Chloe is a different story. She heard their whispering but it was unintelligible until Chloe turns around and growls. 

Chloe drops them off by the campus and Max says a simple thanks before exiting. Rachel kisses Chloe on the cheek (missing her lips due to Chloe’s stubbornness) and follows suit. She goes a different way without acknowledging Max while Max ventures towards the dorms.

Max knows Chloe won’t forgive her. Not now, at least. No one should forgive anyone for ghosting them for five years, including Chloe. Max doesn’t blame her. But, she still has a lot to say and she wants Chloe to understand the other side of the story. Max didn’t abandon Chloe. She just didn’t think much about contacting an angry, depressed, brooding teenager at the time. Chloe might just shout at her and hang up if Max called, and she didn’t want to experience that. She didn’t want Chloe to guilt trip her either, if she is capable of doing that. Plus, she had made friends during her stay at Seattle. Max almost forgot about Chloe.

But she didn’t.

Max always believed that her and Chloe were soulmates. They always made up after a fight. They never really stayed mad at each other...but this time, Max is convinced Chloe will stay mad at her forever.

When Mas reaches the girls’ dormitory, she sees Victoria knocking on Kate’s door. She decides to watch instead of going straight to her room, knowing that Victoria is the most intimidating girl in school and might scare Kate off so just in case, she can save Kate from Victoria’s sharp claws.

Kate opens the door and is startled to see Victoria in the first place. Victoria is holding a phone in her hand, within eye level. “I was just walking to class when Taylor sent me this. Care to explain?”

“I...I—“

Victoria sucks her teeth. “I don’t have all day to wait for an explanation as to why  _ you _ decided to hang your abstinence posters all over the Vortex Club ones that your neighbor Dana worked  _ so hard on _ .”

“Because your posters took up  _ all _ of the available space,” Kate answers. Max feels a sense of pride watching Kate stand up for herself, even if she’s in the wrong. “I didn’t know where to hang them.”

Victoria is a little taken aback at Kate’s boldness, but only Max caught it for a second. “I’m sorry, did you  _ not _ see the empty spaces around the billboards and walls? And you couldn’t have, you know,  _ communicated _ with people like an  _ actual _ human being? Are you  _ that _ socially awkward?”

“The empty spaces are taken over by missing posters!” Kate defends.

“ _ Really? _ ” Victoria gestures towards empty spaces on the billboards. “Are these spaces taken over by a Samantha Myers missing poster?”

“Uh...no—“

“Ok then.”  Victoria closes her eyes, exhales, and stares at Kate again. “ _ Clearly _ I’m not stopping you from posting these and neither is anyone else,  _ even though they should, _ so let this be a lesson to you. You do  _ not _ staple your posters over anyone else’s. Don’t make me have to come back to you again because of fucking posters.”

Kate breathes a sigh of relief once Victoria walks away. Max decides that’s the best time to approach Kate. “Hey Kate. You ok?”

“How much did you hear?”

“The entire thing?” Kate slumps her shoulders a little. “Hey, it’s ok. You don’t have to explain anything to me. Is that what you were working in earlier?”

“I was getting the posters notarized by the student government,” Kate replies. “Stella and I spent all day trying to find space to hang it up. We didn’t find any until Stela suggested posting them over a couple other posters that no one cared about. I didn’t know it would cause even  _ more _ problems with Victoria.”

“I think you were doing the school a favor though,” Max says. “Plus you didn’t miss much. I got to see a former friend of mine and it didn’t go well.”

Kate furrows her eyebrows. “Are you ok?”

“I guess.” Kate allows Max to come inside her room and everything is perfectly pristine. Her violin case is in a corner and her bunny Alice is happily chewing on a carrot. “She was  _ so _ mad at me. I definitely will give her that because I didn’t contact her for five years, but it still kind of hurts.”

“Well Max, if a friend of mine didn’t contact me for half a decade, I would be pretty mad too,” Kate reasons.

“It’s kind of weird imagining you mad,” Max jokes. Kate rolls her eyes. “But...I didn’t think of how mad she would get. I thought she would be pissed for a little while and then it would be like old times but she went into the bathroom and cried, and came out even more pissed. I don’t think I can fix that.”

“Just give her time,” Kate says. “Forgiveness is up to the person, not up to you. If  _ she _ wants to forgive you and renew the friendship, she will on her own terms. Although, I still would be pissed off if I was in her boat.”

Max raises her eyebrows. She has never heard Kate cuss or even say words like damn or hell or even piss. “Have you ever not forgiven someone for doing you wrong?”

Kate thinks for a little while. “I suppose I haven’t. But even though I see the good in people they would have to do something so terrible and irreversible that I wouldn’t ever forgive them...but I  _ doubt _ anyone would do that. I don’t even think  _ Victoria _ is capable of doing that.”

Max grimaces. “Somehow I think she is.”

“Well if she is,  _ then _ I’ll see what everyone says about her being a...female dog,” Kate replies. 

Max snorts. “Just a minute ago you said pissed and you can’t say bitch?”

“A slip of the tongue, Caulfield,” Kate defends, with a smirk. 

“You have any extra posters to hang up? Maybe we can hang them up the correct way.”

Kate turns around and presents Max with a small stack of posters promoting Kate’s abstinence club and her first event, Meals on Wheels. “Plenty.”

“Let’s go.”

When Max hangs up the last poster, she waves goodbye to Kate and goes to her room. After shutting the door close, she slides down against her door to the floor and hugs her legs while letting a few tears fall. She hated today. Aside from her little issue with Victoria earlier, she was face to face with a pissed off Chloe. While Kate offered her best advice, it still didn’t make Max feel better about the situation.


	4. Making friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy new year lmao. it’s been 84 years. i’m still writing and I’ve put this series (and other fanfic) in the backburner...but since i’m having writer’s block on what seems to be the last few chapters, I’ll see if I can write fanfic for a little bit.

Max wakes up the next morning feeling a little shitty from a terrible lack of sleep. Seeing Chloe so heartbroken makes her almost sick to her stomach and afraid to sleep. She couldn’t even close her eyes without thinking of Chloe’s crestfallen look the last time she saw Max and the angry look she had yesterday. 

She drags herself to the bathroom where two of Victoria’s cronies are hanging out. Taylor turns around and scoffs while Courtney blinks at Max. She doesn’t seem too bad, Max thinks to herself.

“We’re done with the sink by the way,” Courtney smiles.

“What are you doing?” Taylor whispers.

“What? I can’t be nice to the new girl?” Courtney shrugs. “A cold shower isn’t as rejuvenating as you might think.”

“Courtney’s right. It might actually help if you weren’t as mean as your ringleader,” Max says.

“What are you, Mother Teresa?” Taylor sneers. She grabs Courtney’s forearm and drags her out of the bathroom. 

Max turns around and claims a working shower stall, and takes a quick but refreshing shower. When she steps out, the brunette that hangs out with Dana is already in there, brushing her teeth. Max pays her no mind and bushes her own teeth. Then Dana walks in and kisses the top of the brunette’s head. “Sup Juliet?”

“For fucks sake Dana. Do you love kissing me?” Juliet asks with a mouth of toothpaste.

Dana rolls her eyes. “Are you scared that my bi cooties might rub off on you?” Max furrows her eyebrows, which catches Dana’s attention. “Oh, hi Max! I heard you standing up to Victoria yesterday. No one has the balls to do that on their first day so congrats.”

“Uh, thanks?” Max replies.

“That was you?” Juliet inquires. “Holy shit. About time someone put Bitchtoria in her fucking place. Didn’t expect some newbie to do it but i’m glad it was someone.”

Dana winks at Max. “Don’t mind my grumpy mess of a friend. She shouldn’t be that grumpy considering that she’s a reporter and she’s got an exposè on the Vortex Club coming up soon.”

“Ah, yes. Is the Vortex Club a cult? That will definitely get people talking,” Juliet smirks. “I might get in trouble with the self proclaimed Queen Bee but does it look like I give a shit?”

“I don’t know...Victoria’s kind of scary,” Max admits.

“Oh my god, she totally isn’t. Bitch’s all mouth,” Juliet responds. “You know how many times she’s punked out when Rachel wanted to fight her?”

“You mean when you wanted to fight her. Rachel probably wanted to pop her but that’s it,” Dana replies. “I’m kind of hoping for peace this year.”

Juliet spits her backwash into the sink and sucks her teeth. “You...want peace...with Victoria?”

“Why not? I’m just done with high school shit, Jules. I know Victoria can be a total bitch, but...like, don’t feed into it. My mom taught me that and it’s been working. I managed to befriend Taylor Christensen because of it. Victoria’s harder to break but i’m sure it will happen.”

“You and Kate have a heart of gold,” Max compliments. “I like that idea but being petty once in a while doesn’t hurt either.”

“Exactly,” Juliet agrees. “Anyway, gotta go get ready for class. Then I got a paper to edit. See you two later I guess.”

When Juliet leaves, Dana turns to Max. “I know you heard my other comment.”

“Who do you have your heart set on?” Max asks, intrigued.

“The same girl I mentioned earlier.”

Max raises an eyebrow. “Seriously?”

“Taylor isn’t terrible. You just...kind of have to be patient with her. Her mom recently got into an accident so I’ve been there when Victoria can’t, which isn’t often because Victoria is surprisingly supportive.”

“She’s been rude to me so I can’t exactly…”

“Yeah, because of Victoria,” Dana replies. “You should talk to her once in a while...without Victoria present. Maybe when Courtney is around. Courtney’s also really kind and looks like she doesn’t even belong...also you’re the only one who knows about my crush on Taylor so don’t blab it to people.”

Max winks. “My lips are sealed, Dana Ward.”

* * *

 

The day drags on until lunch. She decides to sit with Warren instead since Rachel is nowhere to be found and Max is sure Rachel is still kind of mad. Warren welcomes her with two other people, one of them Brooke and another a student in Max’s class that she recognizes. “Hey, Daniel right?”

“Yeah,” Daniel replies, smiling. “You’re in my photography class with Jefferson.”

“Indeed I am,” Max affirms.

“I guess it’s just Brooke and me in the science program,” Warren shrugs. “Shucks, i’m not that mad.”

“Science nerds unite,” Brooke smirks. 

Max turns to Daniel. “Artsy people unite I guess.”

Throughout the lunch period, Max gets to know each student around the table. Brooke doesn’t seem as terrible as she thought, and Daniel is kind of cool. Warren is probably the hugest nerd Max has ever met but she can handle it. It’s an awesome kind of nerdy liaison she can definitely get around. Max has never fit in much groups but she manages to befriend a group of nerds, a religious girl, and two popular and attractive girls. At her old school, it was just her, Fernando and Kristen in one group. Fernando often has his own Latinx group he would hang around with and often tutored a kid named Sean Diaz from his neighborhood but Kristen didn’t have other friends. Max didn’t either which is why she felt drawn to Kristen way more than Fernando.

She did get along with Fernando though. 

This school isn’t too crazy about cliques though. Warren is friends with several cool kids including Dana, who he claims steals his flash drive from time to time. Daniel used to draw Rachel on occasions. Brooke isn’t the type of person to venture off but she does keep a close friendship with Stella and a girl named Steph.

When lunch ends, they all collectively head to science with Miss Grant. Max shares it with other students she’s seen around but her lab partner is Warren and he even offered to tutor her. So far she doesn’t need his help but he does seem like the type of person to study with. 

When she sits down, a twitchy Nathan Prescott strolls in, with a permanent scowl that reminds Max of a certain Harry Potter character. “It’s like we have our own Draco Malfoy on school grounds.”

“Oh no. Draco’s not as terrible as he is,” Warren says. “Nathan’s a huge troublemaker. He made the previous English teacher cry.”

Max didn’t think too much about her current teacher Mr. Keaton (other than slight annoyance and fascination that a teacher can talk in pure metaphor), but it was weird when she walked in yesterday and she saw a guy instead of a girl. “So that’s what happened to her.”

“His dad owns the school so he probably got away with all his crimes, including the one from last year,” Warren sneers. “It makes me sick to hear rich people get away with their shitty crimes.”

“Same,” Max frowns.

Nathan stalks to a seat nearby the window, then notices Max staring at him. He turns around and upturns his lip. “What the fuck are you looking at, dyke ugly bitch?”

Max almost jumps at the aristocratic yet threatening voice. “Uh, sorry.”

“Don’t stare at the animal like it’s wild, Maxine,” Warren whispers.

Max snorts, while ignoring Warren calling her by her government name. “Say that a little louder, I don’t think it heard you,” she whispers back.

“Now I know you’re trying to get me killed,” Warren says back.

“Maybe.”

* * *

 

Max is on her way to her dorm when Rachel calls in her room. Max turns around and sees Rachel disappearing inside her room but keeping the door open. Max shrugs and walks inside the room covered in playbills, Christmas lights, pictures, and posters. One of the posters is one of Rachel’s birth chart. Max studies it for a while before she hears Rachel speak again. “I’m a Leo, if you’re wondering.”

“I don’t know, this chart is saying Cancer-Leo cusp,” Max jokes a little.

Rachel widens her eyebrows. “Oh?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry. My friend Kristen said I was a Virgo-Libra cusp because my birthday’s on the 21st,” Max explains. “I’m not sure if i’m a Virgo though.”

“No you’re a cusp. I’m not though,” Rachel says. “I feel the Leo running through my veins 24/7.” She sits on her bed and pays the seat next to her. Max sits upon request. “Listen...i’m not mad at you. I hope you know that.”

“I know,” Max says.

“I just...I hate seeing Chloe sad again. She’s been through a lot with her mom and her deceased father and her mental illnesses...it’s just...I feel like she’s breaking again and I don’t want that to happen.”

“I don’t want Chloe to feel sad because I came back. I didn’t even want to face Chloe like that in a public place. I know she won’t forgive me for what happened, but it still kind of hurts that she gave me the cold shoulder.”

Rachel nods. “I’ve been trying to talk to her all day but the girl’s stubborn. Gah. That’s what I get for dating her for so long I guess.”

Max smiles a little. “I’m kind of surprised at how many gay girls i’m meeting at this school within the timeframe.”

Rachel laughs. “What, did Seattle not have an LGBT life or something?”

“No. I just...I haven’t met a lot of them in one day. I met you, Dana…”

“Ah yes, Dana,” Rachel smirks. “Don’t tell her that I know but I think she should totally go for it with Taylor.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Max crosses her legs and looks at Rachel’s room some more while sitting. She sees a couple photos of her and Chloe, and some with her and Dana, Juliet, Hayden from her photography class, and several others. Not surprisingly she doesn’t find any with Victoria or Nathan. “Seems like you’re popular around here.”

“You can say that,” Rachel shrugs. “I love my people and they love me. Although I do have some haters.”

“Victoria,” Max guesses.

“She hated me since the beginning but I could never understand why,” Rachel says. “She drugged me before my big break during the Tempest...and was generally cruel to me, especially when I was in Jefferson’s class. She even got meaner when she lost last year’s Everyday Heroes contest. I won but Jefferson fell ill and couldn’t take me. Wells did. Since then, Victoria got so terrible that I was convinced she was going to shave my head off one night.”

“I may be wrong but it sounds like you don’t hate her,” Max claims.

“Trust me, there are days when I want to punch Victoria in the mouth,” Rachel says adamantly. “But...I know how she really is under that bitch. She’s so insecure and she has so much anxiety, and for nothing. She works so hard and I’ve seen how talented and kind she is. If you see her photos, it’s like Richard Avedon himself resurrected from the dead and claimed Victoria for himself, but...she’s convinced that this is some competition. I just want to shake her and tell her it isn’t. Many photographers failed before getting to the top, even Mark Jefferson. If she realized that, Victoria would be the most popular and well liked girl in Blackwell.” Max stays silent. “But anyway, that’ll never happen. Are you making friends at Blackwell?”

“I recently met Warren in my science class,” Max replies.

“Oh, Warren,” Rachel smiles. “You know that’s Chloe’s stepbrother right?”

“And now I do,” Max replies. It makes her happy that Joyce remarried, and to someone that birthed Warren. “Dana was the first person I met in this school. I also met Brooke and Daniel—he says hello by the way—and I vaguely met Taylor and Courtney. Taylor’s kind of a tough person but Courtney seems nice.”

“Courtney’s never been into being a mean girl. If Victoria’s Regina, she would definitely be Karen,” Rachel says. 

“That analogy actually works,” Max laughs.

“Chloe said it first...then she retracted because she says Regina George is too iconic to be compared to Victoria.”

“She isn’t wrong,” Max agrees. “I also met Juliet this morning. That’s really about it...oh, and Kate too.”

“God, that girl’s too cute,” Rachel says. “If I ever said that to Chloe she might get jealous but seriously. You don’t think Kate is cute, just a little? She was blushing the entire time I flirted with her.”

“I guess she is kind of cute,” Max answers. “And the flirting part?”

“Harmless fun, I swear. Although if I wasn’t dating Chloe—“

“Don’t even finish that,” Max interrupts. 

Rachel continues to laugh. “Come on. It was purely innocent.”

“Yeah to the both of us. If Kate heard that she would probably…”

“Have her first orgasm?”

“Rachel!” Max exclaims.

“Ok ok, I’ll stop.” Rachel sighs and looks at Max. “Thank you for coming by. I thought you were mad at me because you thought I was mad at you. Miscommunication is a bitch.”

“It sure is...and if anyone deserves to be mad at me, it’s Chloe. I’m gonna give her some space for now. That’s what Kate told me to do.”

“Good. I’ll keep a good opinion on you though.”

Max grins. “Thanks, Rachel.”


End file.
